S D 



TVhat the 

NATIONAL 
FORESTS 

Mean to the 

WATER 
USER 



By SAMUEL T. DANA 

Assistant Chief 
Forest Investigations 



U. S. Department of Agriculture 

Forest Service 

Henry S. Graves, Forester 



o 




Class. 
Book. 



JIA 



(LO-i^ 



li 





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TVhat the 




XATIONAL 






FORESTS 






Mean to the 






WATER 






USER 




By vSAMUEL T^ DANA 

Assistant Chief 
Forest Investigations 




Ci(^ ^i| _. 


U. S. Department of Agriculture 

Forest Service 

Henry vS. Graves, Forester 



D^^Jrt-5 



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JJ/^HAT the National Forests mean 
to the water user may he summed 
up in the one word "service^^— service 
that is none the less real because it is 
not always obvious and because its 
exact value can not always be ex- 
pressed in dollars and cents. Every 
user of water which originates in the 
National Forests— and this includes 
by far the greater ?jumber of water 
users throughout the TVest—must look 



to the Forests for safeguarding his 
supply. 



n. of 1. 

nrft 18 1919 




Irrigation 



National Forests and the Water Supply 

FEW PEOPLE need to be reminded that the prosperity of the West 
depends largely upon an adequate supply of water for irrigation. 
Water, rather than land, is the open sesame to the 
agricultural development of the semiarid regions. Vast 
areas of rich soil await only water to make them "blossom like the rose." 
To other vast areas water has already been brought from varying distances, 
and these are now among the most productive of all our agricultural 
lands. Irrigation alone is responsible for the sugar-beet fields of Utah, the 
alfalfa fields of Idaho, and the orange groves of California. 

So literally has water meant wealth to the Rocky Mountain and 
Pacific Coast States that the "Golden West" no longer need base its claim 
to the title on the magic metal that brought it fame and prosperity in the 
early days. The gold of the grain field and of the citrus grove is now worth 
more than the gold of the mine. The $247,000,000 which represents the 
annual value of the crops produced 'oh the 150,000 farms comprising the 
13,200,000 acres of irrigated lakd in the West is nearly three times as great 
as the value of the precious metals produced annually in the same region. 
Colorado, preeminently a land of minerals, now produces each year on 
irrigated lands a crop worth more than the entire product of its mining 

3 



4 What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 

industries and approximately twice as much as the output of precious metals. 
California, the "Golden State," contributes annually nearly four times as 
much wealth in crops as in precious metals. 

If the precipitation were as evenly distributed in the West as it is in the 
East, there would not be the need for irrigation that now exists, and the main 
purpose of the National Forests would be simply timber production. But 
it is not evenly distributed, and that is where the trouble lies. Except for a 
narrow strip along the Pacific coast from San Francisco north to the Canadian 
line, the great bulk of the precipitation occurs in the mountains. Through- 
out the Coast Ranges, the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas, and the Rocky 
Mountains and Colorado Plateau the rain and sno^vfall is far greater than 
in the intermediate valleys and plateaus. 

The result is that the majority of water users depend for their supply 
on water that originates a considerable distance away. Some of the most 
productive agricultural lands in the region receive hardly more than enough 
precipitation to support a desert vegetation, while the evaporation is 
correspondingly great. Greeley, Colo., Provo, Utah, Phoenix, Ariz., and 
Fresno and Riverside, Cal., all of which are in the center of extremely 
productive sections, have an annual precipitation of less than 15 inches 
with an annual evaporation from a free water surface at least three or four 
times as much. 

As a natural consequence of the difference in amount of precipitation 
in the mountains and at the lower elevations, the former are generally 
forested and the latter treeless. The National Forests, of course, are 
located in the mountains, where the trees are. From the brush-covered 
foothills of the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mountains in southern 
California to the magnificent Douglas fir forests of the Olympic Mountains 
in northern Washington, and from the piilon and juniper stands of the 
southern Rockies in New Mexico to the pine forests of the northern Rockies 
in Montana and Idaho, the mountains and the National Forests coincide. 

The intimate relation that exists between the National Forests and 
irrigated lands throughout the West is shown on the map (fig. i).^ At 
least 85 per cent, and very likely more, of the water used to irrigate these 

^ The irrigated areas shown on this map are not always drawn exactly to scale; nor is the 
entire area shown as irrigated actually irrigated, any more than tlie entire area shown as 
National Forest land is actually owned by the Federal Government. To have attempted to 
show nonirrigated or privately owned lands within the exterior boundaries of irrigation projects 
or National Forests would have been impossible on a map of this scale. 



Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture. W 




RELATION BETWEEN 
NATJONAL FORESTS AND 
' IRRIGATED LANDS 



NATIONAL rOREST5 
I IRRIGATED LANDS 

SCALE OF MILES 

5 SO 100 ISO ZOO 



A" a*«« LiUofTopluiv Cnpai, ITadKWaw O. C 



e 

i- 
it 

2. 



For«»t Service, U. S. Dipertmenl of Agriculture. What the National Forests Mean to the Water User. 




What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 5 

13,200,000 acres, whether it comes from surface streams and lakes or 
from underground sources, has its origin in the mountains where the 
National Forests are located. Obviously, not all of this mountain area 
is forested, nor is all of the forested area under Federal ownership. At 
the same time, the National Forests include a large part of the area from 
which the bulk of the irrigation water is derived, and must therefore exert 
an important influence on the amount and character of the supply. 

No figures are available as to the exact value added to these lands 
by the application of water, but it unquestionably runs into the hun- 
dreds of millions of dollars. Without water much of this area would be 
practically worthless, and the value even of that portion on which dry 
farming is feasible would be greatly reduced. In the vicinity of Salt 
Lake City, Utah, for example, irrigated lands deriving their water from 
the Wasatch National Forest are valued at from $100 to $1,000 per acre, 
with an average of probably $400 per acre; while land without water in 
the same district, except where it requires drainage, is practically valueless. 
Near Los Angeles, Cal., unimproved lands with water rights are worth 
from $200 to $500 per acre, while bearing orange or lemon groves may be 
valued at $3,000 or even more per acre. What the water supply protected 
by the Angeles National Forest means to this region is also well illustrated 
by the value of the crops produced on irrigated lands that without water 
would be of little or no agricultural value. In 191 5, 25,750 acres devoted to 
citrus fruits, alfalfa, and sugar beets, deriving their irrigation water from 
the San Antonio watershed, with an area of only 24 square miles, yielded 
crops valued at $5,400,000; while 5,870 acres of citrus fruits, deriving their 
water from the San Dimas watershed, with an area of only 18 square miles, 
yielded crops valued at $2,600,000. 

Irrigation represents one of the vital needs for water in the West, but 
there are others. Water is the " white coal " which furnishes or will furnish 
the motive power for lighting systems, trolley lines, p 

and manufacturing plants everywhere in the Western 
States. As such it constitutes an immensely valuable resource. The 
western mountains contain more than 72 per cent of the potential water 
power of the United States. Through lack of markets, only a compara- 
tively small part of this has been utilized, but in the last 20 years great 
strides have been made in development. In the decade from 1902 to 191 2, 



What Water Will Do 

lop. — With — where the oranges grow. The orange groves 
and other irrigated lands in the foreground obtain their 
water from the mountains in the background, which are 
included in the Angeles National Forest, Cal. At the 
lower elevations these mountains are covered with a dense 
growth of brush, or chaparral, while at the higher eleva- 
tions are forests of western yellow pine, Jeffrey pine, and 
other trees. The value of citrus fruits produced in the 
eight southernmost counties of California in 1914 is esti- 
mated by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to 
have been $33,000,000. 

fio«om.— Without— where the agaves grow. Semi-desert 
land near Silver City, N. Max., now used during part of 
the year as stock range. If irrigation were possible many 
of the desert areas throughout the West could be converted 
into fertile agricultural land. Water, rather than soil, is 
frequently the decisive factor in determining whether cul- 
tivation is practicable. 







'i^i^i^iS&idtii^i^^&i 




8 What (he NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 

for example, water-power development in the Western States increased 451 
per cent, or more than four times as rapidly as in the rest of the country. 
How rapidly water power is developed in the future will depend solely on 
how many new industries and people make their home in the West. Judged 
by how many have gone there in the past, the demands of the Western 
States upon their "white coal" will continue to multiply. 

No less than 42 per cent of the water power resources of the 1 1 Western 
States, or approximately 31 per cent of the water-power resources of the 
entire country, is actually within the National Forests. Moreover, a large 
part of the remaining power, although developed outside of the Forests, 
is derived from streams rising in them. In 191 5 nearly 42 per cent of the 
water power already installed was developed by plants some part of which 
occupied National Forest lands or which were directly dependent on 
storage reservoirs constructed on National Forest lands, and 13.6 per cent 
more was similarly dependent on other public lands. Even these figures, 
however, do not bring out the full significance of the National Forests in 
their relation to the water-power resources of the West. A large part of 
these resources outside of the Forests are so located as to be extremely 
difficult of development under present conditions, and so a continually 
increasing proportion of new water-power developments is utilizing sites 
within National Forests or other public lands. 

Farther downstream, in the lower reaches of the rivers and in the 
harbors into which they flow, water contributes still further to western 
,r . prosperity. Inland ^^•ater transportation in the Moun- 

tain and Pacific States will never attain the development 
of which it is capable in the Eastern and Central States, but it is already 
of considerable importance, and should become increasingly so as the 
population grows denser and traffic correspondingly heavier. According 
to the 1 91 6 report of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, there 
were at that time some 26 navigable streams in the Western States, with 
a navigable length of approximately i ,746 miles and an annual movement 
of over 14,000,000 tons valued at more than $250,000,000. 

The relation of the National Forests to navigation is not strikingly 
obvious, since practically all the navigable portions of western streams lie 
outside of the I^'orest boundaries. Yet by far the greater part of the water 
that they carry originates in their upper courses, which are to a large extent 



What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 9 

included within the National Forests. Any influence that the Forests 

may exert on this water is therefore felt indirectly, but none the less surely, 

by the streams and by the harbors into which they flow. 

Ordinary drinking water may lack the romantic associations of some 

other beverages, but it nevertheless is an everyday necessity for thousands 

of families scattered on farms and ranches and in 

DoJTicstic 
numerous small settlements throughout the West and ' ^^ , 

<• 1 -11 1 1 • . , . , Supply 

for the stnl larger population comprised m the towns 

and cities. How much effort and money must be expended by western 
cities in obtaining a pure and al^undant water supply is shown by the 
examples of Los Angeles and San Francisco, the first of which has con- 
sidered it worth while to spend some $25,000,000 to bring water from 
Owens Valley on the east side of the Sierras across 250 miles of desolate 
and rugged country; while San Francisco is going back 190 miles into the 
fastnesses of the Sierras at an estimated cost of $77,000,000 in order to 
get its supply from the famous valley of the Hetch Hetchy. 

Some 732 western towns and cities, with an aggregate population of 
2,265,000, depend on the National Forests for their domestic water supply. 
This does not include, of course, ranches and small settlements equally 
dependent on the Forests, nor the towns and cities securing their domes- 
tic water from streams and underground supplies which are at some 
distance from the Forests, but which rise from sources within them. 
Denver, Colo., Salt Lake City, Utah, Los Angeles, Cal., and Portland, 
Oreg., are conspicuous examples of large cities which are insured a pure 
and abundant water supply by the National Forests. So important is 
this function of the Forests that many communities have entered into 
cooperative agreements with the Forest Service for the better protection 
of the watersheds from which they get their supplies. 

Beneficial Effects of Forest Cover 

Perhaps the most obvious relation that exists between forests and 

water is the tendency of the tree cover to check erosion. The leaves and 

branches of the trees prevent the rain from beating 

upon the soil as it does in the open; the cover which r- 

^1 re , , 1 , , . ^ . , . troswn 

tney anord delays the melting of snow m the spring; 

the upper layers of the forest soil act as an enormous sponge that absorbs 
70559°— 19 2 



Irrigation Reservoirs on the Notional Forests 

Top. — Lake Keechelus on the Wenatchee National Forest, 
Wash., used as one of the storage reservoirs for the 
Yakima Reclamation Project. When completed, this 
project will include more than 146,000 acres of irrigated 
land. The crop production in 1915, on about two- 
thirds of the area ultimately irrigable, was valued at 
$2,400,000. 

Middle. — Granby Lakes on the Battlement National Forest, 
Colo. This Forest was created in 1892 at the request 
of local residents to protect their supply of water for 
irrigation and domestic use. Within its boundaries are 
now some 400 reservoirs supplying about 140,000 acres 
of irrigated land valued at more than $2,500,000. 

Bellom. — Jackson Lake on the Teton National Forest, 
Wyo., with the Teton Mountains in the background. 
This forms one of the main storage reservoirs for the Mini- 
doka Reclamation Project. 




|x',;.. ^j-'J',*'-tsj^^.< i**'-'*vr.-' 







M: 




Before and After 

Top. — A portion of the Salt River Reclamation Project in 
southern Arizona previous to irrigation, covered only with 
a sparse growth of desert vegetation. 
Middle. — The same area after water has been applied, 

covered with a vigorous crop of barley. 

Bollom. — The same area several years later, covered with a 

thrifty young orange grove. 



14 What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 



large quantities of water which in turn are passed on to the great reservoir 
of mineral soil beneath; and finally, the surface cover of stumps, fallen 
twigs, branches, and even whole trees acts as a mechanical obstruction 
to prevent rapid run-off. The siu^face run-off from forest areas is less, 
both in total amount and in velocity, than that from similarly situated 
unforested areas. The steeper and more rugged the topography, the more 
marked is this contrast. 

In hilly country some erosion is, of course, inevitable under any con- 
ditions. When the soil cover of trees, underbrush, and litter is kept intact, 
however, this is more often beneficial than otherwise, since only the lighter 
soil particles are washed away, to be later deposited in the more level lands 
below, adding to their fertility. But when this protective cover is inter- 
fered with, whether by fire, destructive lumbering, overgrazing, or inju- 
dicious clearing of land for agriculture, the proportion of coarser, infertile 
materials washed away increases greatly and transforms erosion from a 
constructive into a dangerously destructive force, difficult of control and 
capable of doing mitold damage. 

From the standpoint of the water user, the tendency of the mountain 
forests to prevent erosion is of the utmost importance. Wherever storage 
reservoirs must be used, whether for municipal supplies, irrigation, or water 
power, they are exposed to the ever-present danger of silting up. Evers^ 
bit of soil brought down by the streams and deposited in them reduces their 
capacity and consequently their effectiveness by just so much. This sedi- 
mentation is serious under any condition, but doubly so when, as not in- 
frequently happens, no other satisfactory dam sites are available and the 
reservoir can not be replaced at a reasonable cost. 

Water heavily laden with eroded material often decreases the effi- 
ciency and increases the cost of maintaining diversion dams, pipe lines, 
flumes, canals, and other irrigation works. Sometimes such water dam- 
ages the crops to which it is applied, and not infrequently it seriously 
injures or even ruins the land by burying it under a mass of sand, gravel, 
bowlders, and other infertile debris. Excessive erosion may interfere seri- 
ously with navigation by filling the streams with material which is deposited 
in their lower reaches and in the harbors into which they empty. 

The action of tlie forest in reducing surface nm-ofif tends also to regu- 
late the flow of streams. Instead of rushino: awav in uncontrollable tor- 



What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 1 5 

rents the water is absorbed into the great reservoir of mineral soil, from 
which it is gradually paid out to the springs and streams. This tends to 
decrease the high water run-ojfif and to increase the low 

water run-off. Both results are good. The decrease in ^^ „, 

. stream rlow 

the high water nm-off means that there is less dan- 
ger of destructive floods and less waste of valuable water; while the 
increase in low water run-off means that a larger supply of water is avail- 
able during the dr}^ season, when it is particularly needed. It is the low 
water flow that to a great extent determines the availability of any given 
supply for municipal use, irrigation, or hydroelectric development, and any- 
thing which will increase this flow is therefore a factor of prime importance. 

What One National Forest Does 

A typical example of the ways in which the National Forests benefit 
the water user is furnished by the Pike National Forest in Colorado. This 
Forest extends along the main range of the Rocky Mountains from some- 
what north of Denver to south of Colorado Springs, and includes within 
its boundaries a considerable portion of the headwaters of the South Platte 
and Arkansas Rivers. 

Irrigation by means of water coming from the mountains included 
in the Pike National Forest had its modest beginnings in i860 along the 
South Platte River in South Park and also near Denver. Since then the area 
on which irrigation is practiced has grown steadily, until now it is esti- 
mated at some 400,000 acres, valued at about §40,000,000 and with an 
annual crop production of over $10,000,000. On many acres where water 
is not available dry farming is practiced, but the results are uncertain 
and the yields much less than on irrigated land. The value of water in this 
region is so great that the natural flow of the streams is greatly over- 
appropriated, and there is need for every additional drop that can be 
developed or stored. Practically all of the Great Plains lying east of the 
Rocky Mountains is potentially agricultural land, and the only limit to 
its development is the amount of water which can be secured for irrigation. 
So well recognized is the part played by the forest cover in protecting the 
water supply that in one case an organization of farmers has protested 
against any cutting of timber on certain watersheds. 



The Desert Blooms 

Top. — ^With and without — a striking illustration of the trans- 
formation worked by the application of water. The dry 
land outside of the fence on the Minidoka Reclamation 
Project is a sagebrush desert; that inside, a fertile field of 
alfalfa. The water used on this project comes in large 
part from the National Forests at the headwaters of the 
Snake River. 

Bottom. — An apple orchard on the Boise Project of the 
Reclamation Service in western Idaho on land formerly 
covered with sagebrush. This project is able to furnish 
water for the irrigation of 230,000 acres, includes a popu- 
lation of 47,000, and in 1915 produced crops valued at 
$2,327,400. A considerable part of the water supply 
for the project is protected by the Boise and Payette 
National Forests. 




76559°— iy 3 



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.■ipr^-TT — ' ■ m^*. • ■ 



' *Kfi\ " * ' w^ "*w- f jygy ■ ^ ' v^^ju- ' M^ w ifc T i.v^jTOUK^ - f 



P-:: 




Irrigation Means Prosperous Homes 

An irrigated ranch near Grand Junction, Colo. Similarly 
situated lands in this region without water are practically 
valueless. The water for irrigation originates mainly in 
the Rocky Mountains, where it is protected by the Un- 
compahgre, Gunnison, Battlement, and other National 
Forests. 



20 IVhat the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 

No less important is the use of the water for domestic and municipal 
purposes. Denver has its main storage reservoir, Lake Cheesman, with a 
capacity of about 26,000,000,000 gallons and a watershed of 1,152,000 
acres, in the heart of the Pike Forest. Colorado Springs has a series of 
reservoirs which also get their supply from the Pike. Altogether, some 
35 cities and towns with an aggregate population of 275,000, and an invest- 
ment in waterworks of over $17,600,000, obtain their domestic supply 
from this Forest. The watersheds supplying Denver, Colorado Springs, 
Manitou, Cascade, and Idaho Springs are given special protection against 
fire. At the request of local residents. Congress has added nearly 28,000 
acres to the Pike Forest, while farther north, on the Colorado National 
Forest, Congress in 191 6 authorized the addition of some 540,000 acres for 
the purpose of watershed protection. 

Where fire has destroyed the forest cover on certain of the watersheds 
within the Pike, young trees are being planted. Already some 3,000 acres 
have been planted by the Forest Service on the watersheds denuded by 
the great fire of 1866, from which Colorado Springs and its suburbs obtain 
their water, and plans have been perfected for the reforestation of an 
additional 9,000 acres. 

The development of hydroelectric power bids fair to constitute another 
important use of the streams which take their rise in the Pike National 
Forest. It is only in recent years that water in this region has been utilized 
for power, but the possibilities for development offered by the streams are 
tremendous. 

Placer mining, which, aside from drinking and bathing, probably 
called for the first use of water on the Pike National Forest, is now practic- 
ally a thing of the past. The use of water in the milling of ores, however, is 
quite common in a number of districts, and there are many mills which 
could not operate without an abundant and constant supply. 

The value of water as a scenic, or esthetic, asset, and its contribution 
to recreation in the region, should also not be overlooked. To the Pikes 
Peak region come thousands of visitors every year, attracted by the scenery 
and climate. Periodically dry streams and eroded stream beds are far from 
attractive, and in helping to prevent erosion and to maintain a steady 
stream flow the forest adds materially to the value of the region for the 
tourist and pleasure seeker. 



What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 21 

Some Results of Forest Destruction 

How any interference with the protective cover of trees and other 

vegetation works to the detriment of the water user is illustrated by the 

history of a small stream on the Pike Forest known 

as Trail Creek. This was originally a clear stream con- ^ , 

• Lreefi 

fined to a narrow channel and with comparatively little 

erosion. Gradually, however, the character of the stream changed as a 
result of heavy cutting on its watershed, prior to the creation of the 
National Forest and on private lands included within the Forest bound- 
aries, followed by a number of severe forest fires. Floods became more 
frequent, erosion set in, the stream beds were widened, and their bottoms 
began to fill up with sand and gravel washed down from above. 

In April, 1 914, a heavy flood occurred which wrought serious damage 
to a small ranch at the mouth of the creek. Approximately 11 acres of 
irrigated land, worth $40 an acre and including nearly a fourth of the 
irrigated land on the ranch, were buried under from 18 to 30 inches of 
coarse gravel and rendered practically worthless. Furthermore, the flood 
filled up the irrigating ditches so completely and changed the course of 
Trail Creek so markedly as to make it impossible to continue the use of 
water from the creek for irrigation without going to considerable expense 
in the construction of new improvements. In August of the next year a 
heavy hailstorm resulted in another flood which washed out several acres 
of hay land along the creek bottom and ruined 1 6 tons or more of hay worth 
$14 a ton. The same storm also brought down an immense amount of 
gravel in an ordinarily dry gulch running through the farm and piled this 
2>^ feet deep against the kitchen door. Altogether, the floods of these two 
years damaged this one small ranch to the extent of at least $600 and 
rendered approximately one-fourth of it practically nonproductive. 

Other examples of the damage resulting from interference with the 

forest cover before the creation of the National Forests can be selected 

almost at random from the Mountain Forests of the ^ r » j 

loan Isabel 
West. In the Sangre de Cristo Range and the Green- 

FoTCSt 

horn Range, in what is now the San Isabel National 
Forest, in southern Colorado, it is very noticeable that streams whose 
headwaters have been denuded to a considerable extent of their protective 
cover have badly eroded channels and are subject to great extremes in 



Water for Irrigation and Power 

Top. — Roosevelt Dam and power plant (in right center 
foreground). This reservoir stores 1,140,000 acre-feet 
of water and, together with the Verde River, furnishes 
the water supply for the Salt River Reclamation Project 
in southern Arizona. This project includes 189,000 
acres of irrigated land supporting a population of 53,000 
and with a crop production for the year 1917 of $14,- 
750,000. The bulk of the water for the project originates 
on the Tonto National Forest and the White River Indian 
Reservation. 

Bottom. — Minidoka Dam and power plant. This dam 
supplies water for the irrigation of 120,300 acres on the 
Minidoka Reclamation Project in southern Idaho. The 
electricity developed at the power plant is used on many 
farms for lighting, heating, and cooking. 



**, 





Where "White 



Coal" is Transformed into 
Electricity 



A power plant on the Sierra National Forest, Cal. The 
pipe line has a drop of 2,000 feet. The National 
Forests contain 42 per cent of the water power resources 
of the West. These can be developed by private interests 
upon payment of an annual charge and under restrictions 
that protect the public against monopoly. 



76559°— 19- 



26 What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 



flow, with frequent destructive floods, while no harmful effects of this 
sort are noticeable on streams whose headwaters are well timbered. Wild 
Cherry Creek, for example, after being almost completely burnt over, 
was subject to spring floods and to damage from erosion. During July 
it would dry up at a distance of not over 2 miles from the mouth of the 
canyon. As the watershed has become reforested these conditions have 
changed gradually until to-day the stream is not subject to floods and 
erosion and is more regular in its flow. During the summer it now reaches 
a point 4 miles below the mouth of the canyon and is used early in the fall 
for irrigation. Apache Creek, which fonnerly flowed the full length of its 
course all summer, since the destruction of the timber at its headwaters 
disappears only 2 or 3 miles from its head; and its only value for irrigation 
purposes after the middle of June lies in its flood waters, which are very 
uncertain. Hardscrabble and Medano Creeks have suffered similar results, 
and the list might be extended almost indefinitely. 

On the North Fork of the Gunnison River, in western Colorado, mucn 
flood damage has occurred as a result of the extensive fires which burned 

over its upper watersheds in the late seventies and 

Gunnison , . , . ^^ . , . .• .1 11 1 

early eighties. Previous to that time the creek channels 

were narrow and rocky, l3eavers were abundant, and the 
bottom lands showed little erosion. In 1884 a heavy snowfall was followed 
by a flood which is estimated to have ruined at least 2,000 acres of good 
ranch land. Since then destructive floods have occurred every few years. 
In 191 2 irrigated land and other property was damaged to the extent of 
some $20,000, a $5,000 Ijridge was washed out, and $8,000 was expended 
in preventing the destruction of two other bridges. In spite of this com- 
paratively recent damage it is generally believed that floods are becoming 
less frequent and less destructive as adequate fire protection on the Gunni- 
son Forest is gradually restoring a forest cover on the burned-over areas. 
Thirty years ago a big fire burned over the watershed of Gypsum Creek, 

_ which is located in central Colorado in what is now the 

Gypsum . , ^ ^ . , . ^ 

Holy Cross National Forest. Two years after this fire 

'^ the low water flow of the creek was so reduced that the 

use of water for irrigation from it was restricted to the first 47 decrees. 

vSince then the flow had gradually increased with the establishment of a 



What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 27 

dense stand of timber until now it furnishes sufficient water for 130 

decrees. 

The following letter from a rancher in northern Wyoming throws light 

on what the protection afforded by the Bighorn National Forest means to 

the water user in that part of the country : " I have 

resided on Rock Creek for 28 years. During all this time Jotgnorn 

r or est 
I was owner of a ranch and was dependent on a good 

supply of water for all my crops; the welfare of my stock and my own 

financial standing depended, therefore, more or less, on a good flow of water 

in Rock Creek. All these reasons make a man observant and thoughtful 

about any causes that may prevent a normal flow of water in any stream 

the headwaters of which are in the mountains. We all know that if a 

forest fire runs through the biggest portion of the watershed of a stream 

the water supply of such a stream is greatly diminished, if not entirely cut 

off, during the latter part of July and August, and untold damage is done 

to all ranchmen who are dependent on such a burned-off area for their 

irrigation water. 

"As proof of the foregoing, I mention the great fire on tlie headwaters 
of Rock Creek in 1890, when four-fifths of the Rock Creek watershed was 
burned off. There was good reason to think that it was incendiarism. 
Immediately after the fire and for eight years afterwards there was very 
little water at the right time. There were some destructive floods too 
early in the season to do the irrigator much good. But as the hills became 
covered with young reproduction the flow of Rock Creek kept increasing 
and the floods became less destructive, and to-day, 20 years after the fire, 
Rock Creek is nearly normal again, but not quite, for the reason that in 
the head of the main fork the fire was so destructive that there were no 
seed trees left for a distance of nearly 5 miles on the south side of the creek, 
and consequently the reproduction is very scattering. 

"In conclusion I wish to state that anyone who successfully farms a 
ranch in this part of Wyoming understands the great importance of keeping 
the forest fires out of the mountains and of maintaining a good stand of 
timber on the watersheds of all streams to hold the snow and help prevent 
the rapid run-off of the water too early in the season to be of much use to 
the irrigator." 



How the National Forests Protect Domestic 
Water Supplies 

Top. — Intake of the water system for the city of Portland, 
Oreg. The water for the city comes from the Bull Run 
V/atershed, which is entirely within and protected by the 
Oregon National Forest, under a special cooperative 
agreement between the city and the Forest Service. 

Middle. — Lake Cheesman, in the heart of the Pike National 
Forest, Colo. This lake, with a storage capacity of 
about 26,000,000,000 gallons, forms the main reservoir 
for the water-supply system for the city of Denver. 

Bottom. — Street drinking fountain in Portland, Oreg. The 
water comes directly from the Oregon National Forest, 
which insures both its purity and abundance. 



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Everywhere the National Forests and the Moun- 
tains Coincide 



Top. — Headwaters of Lewis River in the Rainier National 

Forest, Wash., with Council Lake in foreground and 

Mount Adams in background. 
Bottom. — Typical view of the Cascade Mountains in the 

Columbia National Forest, Wash., with Mount St. 

Helens in background. 



Hoic the National Forests Protect River Sources 

Top. — Willow Creek, one of the sources of the Colorado 
River, in the Arapaho National Forest, Colo. The stream 
comes gently from the belt of forest which stores melting 
snow from above timber line on the Parkview Peaks. 

Bottom. — Trapper's Lake, also on the headwaters of the 
Colorado River, in the White River National Forest, 
Colo. The dense stands of timber which are char- 
acteristic of such situations help to prevent erosion and 
irregular run-off. 



What loo Rapid Run-off Can Do 

Top. — Bowlders for soil. This view of tlie Santa Ana River 
in southern California shows how torrential run-off may 
wash away the soil and leave the land covered with snags, 
gravel, bowlders, and other infertile debris. The irregular 
strip of cleared land winding up the brush-covered slopes 
in the background at the right forms part of a system of 
fire lines on the Angeles National Forest constructed to 
prevent the spread of forest fires. 

Bottom. — Sand for alfalfa. The sand waste in the foreground 
is typical of hundreds of acres of formerly good alfalfa 
land along the San Diego River in southern California 
which were seriously damaged by the f^ood of January, 
1916. As a result of this flood, which came largely from 
burned-over areas in the Cleveland National Forest, the 
stream in many places changed its course, considerably 
enlarged its channel, and injured adjacent agricultural 
lands both by washing them away and by burying them 
under sand and other infertile material. The slides on 
the sparsely covered hills in the background are most 
numerous where fires considerably reduced the protective 
cover of brush. 



36 IVhat the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 

Many examples of destructive floods caused by overgrazing in the 

mountains prior to the creation of the National Forests are furnished by the 

, . , State of Utah. In what is now the Fillmore National 

Utah 

Forest the Chalk Creek, Pine Creek, Meadow Creek, 

Fool Creek, Oak Creek, and Scipio watersheds , which supply the water for 
27,000 acres of irrigated land and for the towns of Fillmore, Meadow, Oak 
City, and Scipio, were at one time so heavily overgrazed that the resulting 
floods damaged roads, reservoirs, cultivated land, and other property to 
the extent of thousands of dollars. Since the creation of the National 
Forest grazing on these watersheds has been prohibited or restricted, and 
the vegetative cover has had a chance to reestablish itself. As a result, 
the floods have been steadily decreasing, both in number and severity, 
until they are now practically negligible. The importance of the pro- 
tection exercised by this Forest is still further emphasized by the fact 
that, together with the Fishlake and Sevier National Forests, it is the 
source of water used in the irrigation of some 200,000 acres, valued at over 
$18,000,000, and as the domestic supply for some 28 towns, with a total 
population of about 13,000. 

How National Forest Administration Benefits the Water User 

In the actual management of the National Forests every precaution 
is taken to see that the interests of the water user are fully protected. 
No utilization of their various resources is permitted unless a negative 
answer can be given to the question. Will the proposed use have any 
injurious effect on the water supply? 

An outstanding feature of National Forest administration is the 
emphasis placed on fire protection. Fire is the worst thing that can 

happen in a forest, both as regards destruction of 

Fife 

p , f. property and interference with the water supply. Every 

fire, no matter how small, destroys some of the organic 

material in the surface layers of the soil, and to that extent reduces its 

absorptive capacity. Repeated fires on the same area, even if they do not 

destroy the forest outright, may practically nullify its effects in preventing 

erosion and regulating stream flow. 

Every effort is made to control so dangerous a menace. The guiding 

idea is to prevent fires from starting and to put out those that do start 



What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 37 

before they attain any considerable headway. Various means are used to 
bring home to the general public the seriousness of the fire danger and to 
secure the cooperation both of local residents and transient visitors. 
Lookout stations are established on mountain tops and at other points of 
vantage for the prompt detection of fires. These are supplemented by 
riding patrols. Boxes of fire-fighting tools are placed at strategic points. 
Roads, trails, and telephone lines are built as means of quick communi- 
cation. Extra men to serve as fire guards are appointed during the danger 
season, and the local community is so organized as to make an efficient 
fire-fighting force available on short notice. 

The system has now reached a stage of efficiency where the majority 
of fires are brought under control before they do any serious damage. 
In 191 6, for example, 73 per cent of the 5,655 fires on the National Forests 
were extinguished before they had burned over 10 acres, and only 4.4 per 
cent caused a damage of more than $100. The chief opportunities for 
further progress lie in reducing the number of fires that occur, and in this 
work every citizen can help. The water user in particular should be among 
the very first to cooperate in keeping down fires. His prosperity is inti- 
mately bound up with their suppression. 

Necessary precautions are likewise taken to keep in check insects and 
diseases which would endanger the forest cover on watersheds in the 
National Forests. 

When the boundaries of the National Forests were first drav/n it was 

inevitable that occasional areas of land more suitable for farming than for 

timber production or watershed protection should have 

been included. To make certain that all of the lands ^j .r ,. 

Llassijicatwn 
within the National Forests will be put to their best use 

thorough surveys were made by experts, as a result of which the lands 
have been classified according to their primary value for timber production, 
watershed protection, agriculture, and the like. 

In making this classification, one fundamental principle was followed, 
namely, that land chiefly valuable for the prevention of erosion or the regu- 
lation of stream flow should be retained in the National Forests and adminis- 
tered primarily for these purposes. Such other lands as appear to be more 
valuable for crop production have either been eliminated altogether from 
the National Forests or else opened to entry under the Forest Homestead 



The Fire Menace 

Top. — Vista Point, on the Santa Fe National Forest, at the 
headwaters of the Pecos River. Dense stands of timber 
are typical of the higher elevations, where fire has been 
kept out, and form an ideal cover for the watersheds. 

Boltom. — View on the Rainier National Forest, Wash., 
along Stabler Ridge and Niggerhead. Where fires have 
burned we have denuded slopes like this, which are a 
menace to the lands below because of the danger of erosion 
and floods. 



38 




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39 




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Fire Protection on the National Forests 

Top. — A fire-lookout station on the summit of Mount Eddy, 
on the Shasta National Forest, Cal. Lookout stations 
of this sort make possible the prompt detection of forest 
fires. They are connected by telephone with the head- 
quarters of the Forest supervisor, who is thus enabled to 
organize and dispatch a fire-fighting crew before the fire 
gains any considerable headway. 

Bottom. — Extinguishing a fire on the Wasatch National 
Forest, Utah. In the mountains of the West axes and 
shovels play a much more important part than water in 
the suppression of forest fires. 



Regulated Grazing on the National Forests 

Top. — Sheep grazing on the Santa Fe National Forest, N. 
Mei. Approximately 7,500,000 sheep use the Na- 
tional Forest range each year. Damage to the vegetative 
cover is prevented by limiting the number of stock to the 
carrying capacity of the range and by proper methods of 
handling, such as open herding, illustrated in the picture. 

Botlom. — Cattle grazing on the Santa Fe National Forest, 
N. Mex. Approximately 2,000,000 cattle and horses use 
the National Forest range each year. Full utilization of 
the range is secured by the proper development of water 
holes and salting grounds. 



Good and Bad Lumbering 

^Trt un'°M ' .f'^^f V™ber sale. On this area in the 
Black H.lls National Forest. S. Dak., only the mature 
trees have been removed, the stumps have been cut 
close to the ground, and the brush resulting from lum- 
bermg operations has been piled preparatory to burning 
as a means of reducing the fire danger. A young growth 
of trees will soon come in to complete the protective cover. 

5o«om -What happens when the forest goes. This slope 
on the Cila National Forest in New Mexico, was formerly 
forested. It is now being rapidly washed away as a result 
ot destructive lumbering and overgrazing prior to the 
creation of the National Forest. The eroded gullies are 
from 10 to 20 feet wide and from 6 to I 5 feet deep. Note 
their size in comparison with that of the man on the left of 
the picture. 



46 What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 

Act. It sometimes happened that areas were encountered which were of 
vahie both for farming and for watershed protection. When this was the 
case it became necessary to determine their relative value for the two 
purposes. The fact that throughout the West water is such a precious 
commodity ordinarily led to the classification of such tracts as primarily 
valuable for watershed protection. 

A good example of the way in which this works out in actual practice 
is afforded by the Angeles National Forest in southern California, which is 
the main source of the water supply for millions of dollars' worth of 
citrus groves and other irrigated lands in the valleys below. These lands, 
which owe their high productiveness entirely to irrigation, are many times 
more valuable than the rather mediocre lands within the National Forest, 
even when the latter can be cultivated successfully. Consequently, all of 
the land within this National Forest, much of which is easily eroded, has 
been classified as primarily valuable for watershed protection wherever 
there was any danger that its cultivation might cause erosion or changes in 
stream flow that would result in damage to the irrigated lands below. 

The same principle also applies in the case of lands primarily valuable 
for municipal supply or for hydroelectric projects. Out of the 12,000,000 
acres of land in the Western States that have been eliminated from the 
National Forests or opened to entry in the last five years, practically none 
are primarily valual)le for watershed protection. The water user and his 
needs have l3een given first consideration. 

Within the National Forests is a large part of the western summer 
stock range. Before the creation of the Forests, this range had been so 

_ badly trampled and so heavily over-grazed that its 

carrying capacity had been seriously decreased, and, 
what was worse from the standpoint of the water user, the protective 
influence of the surface cover of grass, shrubs, and small trees had been 
largely destroyed. In many localities overgrazing had been the cause of 
severe erosion, disastrous floods, and reduced stream flow during the 
dry season. 

Grazing in the National Forests has been regulated in such a way as 
to repair such damage to the fullest possible extent and to prevent similar 
damage on areas not already affected. Not only has grazing been restricted 
in certain localities, l)ut new methods of handling the stock have been intro- 



What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WATER USER 47 



duced. In the case of sheep, for example, the old method of grazing them 
in large, compact bodies and bringing them back night after night to the 
same bedding ground, which proved so injurious to both forage and soil, 
has been replaced by handling them in smaller, more open bands and by 
bedding them down wherever night overtakes them. Cattle are prevented 
from congregating too much by a proper distribution of salt and the devel- 
opment of watering places at the higher elevations and on the less frequented 
parts of the range. All stock is kept off of the range until the ground is 
finn enough not to be cut up by trampling. Where necessary, no grazing 
is allowed until the grass and other herbs have had a chance to seed. 

By such measures as these the water user is protected, and at the 
same time the grazing industry is benefited. Under the improved methods 
the range is, in fact, being built up to a point where it can carry larger 
numbers of stock than before and still afford protection from the twin 
dangers of erosion and irregular stream flow. 

In cutting timber on the National Forests, similar precautions are 
taken to see that the interests of the water user are properly protected. 
Destructive lumbering, which too often stripped the 
land and abandoned it to fire, with entire disregard iTnoer (^utting 

not only of the future timber supply, but also of the 
water supply, is now a thing of the past, so far as the National Forests 
are concerned. In its place has been substituted a system of manage- 
ment which assures the preserv^ation of the forest cover and of its pro- 
tective influence. At the higher elevations, where because of thin soil, 
steep slopes, and heavy precipitation the preservation of a fairly dense 
forest cover is particularly important, "protection forests" may be set 
aside in which little or no cutting is allowed. At lower elevations the 
amount of cutting that may safely be allowed naturally varies more or 
less with local conditions. In each case a careful study of the situation 
is made, and the timber is never thinned below the point of safety. Lum- 
bering is carried on with the primary object of improving the forest and 
keeping it continuously productive. So far as possible, new growth is 
secured by natural reproduction from the old trees left standing. 

Areas burned over before the creation of the National Forests need 
to be planted to trees. Many difficulties are encountered in this work, 
but as a result of experiments which the Forest Service has carried on for 



Planting Trees on Denuded Lands 

Top. — Transplant beds at the Cottonwood Nursery on the 
Wasatch National Forest in Utah. About 10,000.000 
forest tree seedlings and transplants are grown by the 
Forest Service each year for use in the reforestation of 
denuded lands on the National Forests. 

Bottom. — Tree planting on the Pike National Forest, Colo., 
on the watershed from which Colorado Springs derives 
its domestic water supply. About 10,000 acres are 
reforested each year by the Forest Service, mainly on 
watersheds from which towns and cities and irrigation 
projects derive their water supply. 



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One Method of Stream Control 

A costly substitute for brush and forest cover. These check 
dams are part of a series of approximately 400 dams con- 
structed in Haines Canyon on the Angeles National Forest 
in southern California at a cost of some $6,000 in order 
to control the floods resulting from the complete burning 
off of the protective brush cover. 



52 What the NATIONAL FORESTS Mean to the WAIER USER 

a number of years it is now possible to go ahead in many localities with 
reasonable assurance of success. Planting is done principally on areas 
from which towns and cities or irrigation projects get their water supply. 
In a word, the various activities on the National Forests are handled 
in such a way as to insure the fullest possible protection and utilization of 
the water supply as well as of the timber, forage, and other resources. One 
of the main objects in the creation of the National Forests w^as to benefit 
the water user and in their actual administration this end is kept con- 
stantly in view. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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